Thursday, November 21, 2013

...in which I thought my entire blog had disappeared, an am very happy to discover I'm wrong on that, it occurred to me that I haven't actually written anything in here for months. Here, therefore, is the 411:

I'm still working hard on wrapping up We Will All Go Down Together, hopefully for early December. Short story short--my kid got sick, I got sick, I'm STILL sick, it's a nightmare. But I'm very happy with the way things are going, an am determined to give my readers the very best possible Novel in Stories experience I can. That takes time, apparently. Who knew?

In other news, the Hexslinger Omnibus is almost upon us! Out in time for Christmas from the fine folks at CZP (natch), this e-book-only offer gets you all three books in one huge file, plus almost 50,000 words' worth of brand-new material! These latter stories--"Like a Bowl of Fire," "In Scarlet Town (Today)" and "Hexmas"--are set after the end of A Tree of Bones, and will hopefully tell you interesting things about (most of) your favourite Hexslinger Series characters. I am in the process of inquiring as to whether or not there will be a way to buy the new stories separately, but will keep you updated.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

So...as we all know, I've been having a hell of a time withExperimental Film,and while I think I'm in a far better place than I was, some strategic decisions needed to be made about my ostensible October, 2013 deadline. I wasn't sure if I could talk about this yet, but as of last night I've been given the go-ahead, and here's how it's going to be:Instead of deliveringExperimental Filmfor October, I'm delivering a book calledWe Will All Go Down Together: A Novel in Stories About the Five-Family Coven...ie, CanCon gone very, very dark, somewhat like Alice Munroe, but with witches, magicians and the Fae. This collects many of the stories I've come to call my “Toronto the Weird” pieces and organizes them into a loose sort of narrative which highlights the fact that the same characters and touchstones show up in a surprising number of them.The book will therefore package not only (for example) “The Narrow World,” probably the oldest entry in this roster (which first appeared inQueer Fear IIand was reprinted inThe Worm in Every Heart), but also all the subsequent Five-Family Coven-related stories which have appeared in various anthologies, magazines and what-have-you since then, most of which very few people aside from me have ever seen contextualized in terms of their shared universe—after which I'll add in on top five entirely new pieces, never before published, the latter three of which will (hopefully) bring closure to various ongoing sagas. I'm putting together the initial manuscript submission package right now, and I have to tell you, it's been really exciting to watch it take shape.My work-schedule until October, therefore, will basically go like this—Finish “In Scarlet Town (Today)”Draft and write “Hexmas,” the final short story supplement for the upcoming Hexslinger Series Omnibus eBook, to be released in December, 2013Finish “Furious Angels”Finish “History's Crust”Draft and write “Helpless”Draft and write “Hungry Ghosts”Draft and write “Under These Rocks and Stones”Write various supplementals forWe Will All Go Down Together(an introduction, an article about the Five-Family coven, a family tree, a timeline); integrate all material into manuscript.Also: Write various other stuff, as needed. But this is the core, the stuff thathasto happen. And it gives me such an amazing thrill to finally be embarked on it, especially after all the various fits and starts and contortionsExperimental Filmhas been putting me through. Especially since, as it stands now,We Will All Go Down Togetherin its raw form is already up over 100,000 words.Let me be clear, though: None of this meansExperimental FilmISN'T going to happen, just that I need more time in order to do it the way it deserves to be done. And because of CZP being wonderful enough to let me substitute a project I was always going to do with them anyhow, everyone wins: a new Gemma Files book comes out next June/July, to be followed by the novelExperimental Filmwas always meant to be—the one I've been blundering towards all this time, butfinallybelieve I've cracked, in terms of outlining/writing.In other news, school just ended, and summer school starts on July 2nd. Got Cal all up my grill 'til then, and after, though in hopefully smaller doses.;)

Friday, May 24, 2013

Hey, all--

Well, it's a whole 'nother year...five months into one, in point of fact...and I've really let things go around here. A large part of that has to do with working on Experimental Film, which is frankly kicking my ass hard (as it should, I guess), but there are other factors at work as well: personal health issues, stress, fatigue, my son's ASD, etc. So I thought I would drop in with a few words about what I'm doing right now, and where to find me for the next little while.

I've been picking up a lot of reprint action, which is pleasant. My story "Kissing Carrion" will be reprinted in Dead North, an anthology of Canadian zombie fiction, in October, 2013. Ellen Datlow picked up my story "Spectral Evidence" for her Hauntings anthology, out right now. She also took my poems "Jar of Salts" and "Haruspicy" for Lovecraft's Monsters, due in 2014, and my story "Nanny Grey", from Solaris's Magic anthology, for Best Horror of the Year Volume 5. Very recently, Stephen Jones picked up my King in Yellow mythos story "Slick Black Bones and Soft Black Stars", from Miskatonic River Press's wonderful A Season in Carcosa, for the Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 24 anthology. That makes twice in a row that he's featured something of mine, which makes me feel all tingly, like I'm Joe Hill (or Simon Stranzas).

In terms of new work, I'm still waiting on A Mountain Walked from Centipede Press, which will feature my Lovecraftian novella "[anasazi]", and is edited by S.T. Joshi. My very short story "One In The Morning, And One At Night" will appear in the next issue of The Three-Lobed Burning Eye, while my Thomas Ligotti tribute "Oubliette" will close out Miskatonic River Press's The Grimscribe's Puppets, which looks absolutely amazing (Joe S. Pulver Snr. edits, as with Carcosa). And for fans of my work involving supremely effed-up QUILTBAG relationships between dudes with magical powers, may I guide you towards what I've been calling my "Hammer Pirates" cycle? Written in non-linear order, the middle instalment, "Trap-Weed", will appear in Mike Allen's Kickstarter-funded Clockwork Phoenix 4, while the origin-story, "Two Captains", is coming later this year from Beneath Ceaseless Skies. I just sold what was supposed to be the final movement, "The Salt Wedding", to Kaleidotrope, which will have it up early next year.

Okay, so...that's it, basically. I'll be at World Horror this year, and I'll also be at Readercon. I'm teaching my first online horror-writing course, in order to raise funds for the Shirley Jackson Awards. Everything is sort of coming up just around the corner, constantly hitting me in the face, and I'm moving from deadline to deadline. But this is frankly nothing new, so; there you go.

I'll try to make myself more available here, but do surf by the non-professsional TMI blog (my LJ) if you want more regular updates. All best.

Homepage of writer Gemma Files

Yet More Opening of the Mouth

Welcome!

Follow this page for professional news, reviews (film, books, whatever takes my fancy) and (less often) views. Though my tastes run very significantly to the dark end of the spectrum, I do hope that whatever your natural bent, you'll occasionally take a minute and follow me there.

About Me

Award-winning horror author Gemma Files is also a film critic, teacher, screenwriter, Writer's Guild of Canada member, wife and mother. In 1999, her story "The Emperor's Old Bones" won an International Horror Guild award for Best Short Fiction. She sold five of her stories to erotic horror anthology TV series THE HUNGER, produced by Ridley and Tony Scott's Scott Free production company. She wrote the Series Two episodes "Bottle of Smoke" and "The Diarist" herself. Her first novel, A BOOK OF TONGUES, is available right now from ChiZine Publications. It will be followed by two sequels, A ROPE OF THORNS (2011) and A TREE OF BONES (2012). Gemma Files can be contacted at filesgemma@gmail.com